Page 26 - Devendra Fadnavis

Previous MVA govt showed red flag to development: Devendra Fadnavis

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government had "red flagged" development works but the current dispensation is committed to fast-track various projects. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader was speaking after performing the groundbreaking ceremony and laying a foundation stone for various projects in Bhayandar city in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. "The previous MVA government had not given enough funds for the development of Mira-Bhayandar township. That government had shown a red flag to overall development but the current government (of Shiv Sena-BJP) is committed to bringing development and will ensure that projects are expedited," he said. Fadnavis said the upcoming Mahavir Bhavan in Bhayandar will fulfil the needs of Jain monks and others for camping. He said the upcoming metro line in the region has been extended up to Uttan, a coastal town in the Thane district. Fadnavis, who holds the Home portfolio

Human trafficking more dangerous than murder: Devendra Fadnavis

Human trafficking is more dangerous than murder, and social awareness coupled with a strong legal framework was needed to curb it, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, was speaking virtually at a panel discussion on 'Prevention of commercial sex trafficking of women', organised jointly by the Maharashtra State Women Commission and 'Alliance against Centres for Trafficking' here. "Human trafficking is a very big challenge before us. It is said that drugs trade is the biggest trade in the world but unfortunately human trafficking is to some extent, along with drugs trade, becoming a big trade. Women and children are most vulnerable to it," he said. Its victims suffer a lot, and it is a far more dangerous crime than murder, the deputy CM added. Human trafficking is an issue transcending boundaries, and social awareness and a people's movement along with a strong legal framework were needed to curb it, he ...

Non-disclosure of cases in poll affidavit: Fadnavis appears before court

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday appeared before a court here in connection with an application seeking action against him for alleged non-disclosure of criminal cases in his election affidavit in 2014. Fadnavis's statement would be recorded by Civil Judge V A Deshmukh after which the court will hear final arguments in the matter. Satish Uke, an advocate, had filed the application seeking criminal proceedings against Fadnavis alleging that cases of cheating and forgery had been registered against the BJP leader in 1996 and 1998 but he did not disclose this information in his poll affidavit ahead of the 2014 assembly elections. Uke is presently in jail after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering.

'Securitisation of Samruddhi Expressway's rights will fetch Maha Rs 50k cr'

Maharashtra will earn Rs 50,000 crore from the securitisation of rights of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway, which can be loosely termed as a sale, and it will ease the financial burden on the state over its construction, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Thursday. The 701-kilometre six-lane corridor, which is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 55,000 crore, passes through 10 districts and the 520-kilometre Nagpur to Shirdi stretch was inaugurated in December last year. Speaking at an event organised by Marathi news channel Mumbai Tak, Fadnavis said, "By securitising the rights, which loosely can be described as sale, Maharashtra government will earn Rs 50,000 crore. With this, the state will be free in the next two years from the debt of constructing the Samruddhi Expressway." "It will remove the state's financial burden and the money raised through securitisation can be used for other issues," he added. Asked about Maharashtra lagging behind some other ..

IMD monsoon forecast will provide clarity on El Nino, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the India Meteorological Department is going to release its final report on the south-west monsoon forecast later this month and that will reveal if the El Nino weather pattern will cast a shadow on the June-September rains, leading to deficient precipitation. Speaking to reporters at Amravati in the Vidarbha region, he said the state government has anyway started preparations to tackle situation arising of a possible shortfall in monsoon rains. India is likely to experience below-normal monsoon rainfall this year, with a 20 per cent chance of drought due to the end of La Nina conditions and the potential for El Nino to take hold, private forecasting agency Skymet Weather said earlier in the day. The private forecaster has predicted the northern and central parts of the country may see a rain deficit, with Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra expected to witness inadequate showers during the core monsoon months

Unseasonal rains damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in 5 districts: Fadnavis

Unseasonal rain in the last two days damaged crops over 7,400 hectares in five districts of the western Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. The intermittent showers affected crops in Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Washim and Buldana districts. Crops over 7,400 hectares are damaged. The damage assessment is completed on 3,243 hectares. The remaining assessment will be completed soon. As many as 7,596 farmers have been affected by the unseasonal showers, Fadnavis told reporters in Amravati district after holding review meetings. It is observed that certain villages in specific areas in the state have been frequently affected by unseasonal showers in the last few years. "We are working to find some solution to the new challenge of climate change, the deputy CM said. Fadnavis said the kin of those killed in the Akola tree fall incident would get financial assistance from the state. "The government has also decided to bear the entire med

Maha govt announces Rs 4 lakh compensation for Akola temple incident's kin

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased in the Akola Babuji Maharaj temple incident

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to visit Ayodhya with Shiv Sena leaders today

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with fellow Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs, will visit Ayodhya on Sunday

Shiv Sena (UBT) hits out at Fadnavis, calls him 'failed' home minister

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Thursday called Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a "failed" home minister while claiming the law and order situation in the state was bad and farmers were committing suicide. An editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not even giving a warning to China after it changed the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Pakistan is being issued hollow threats, but what about China which has made "incursion" in the Indian territory, it said. Earlier this week, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray dubbed Fadnavis a worthless home minister after a woman worker from the Thackeray-led faction was allegedly attacked by activists of rival Shiv Sena in Thane. Fadnavis had then hit back saying he was a "bullet" (kartoos), while Thackeray was a weak chief minister who had sacrificed his ideology for the sake of power and need not be given importance. Notably, the Supreme Court recently made strong

Keep ED-CBI aside and face us: Sanjay Raut dares Devendra Fadnavis

Referring to Fadnavis' claim that he was not a 'fadtus' (useless) - as labelled by Thackeray - but a "kartoos" (cartridge), Raut took a swipe, saying it was more like a "wet kartoos"

Mob attack on cops in Aurangabad unfortunate, maintain peace: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the incident of a mob allegedly attacking police personnel in Aurangabad city, now named Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was unfortunate and appealed to leaders to avoid making provocative statements and giving political colour to it. A mob of more than 500 people allegedly attacked policemen on Wednesday night after some youth clashed among themselves. The incident, which lasted around an hour, took place in Kiradpura locality, which has a famous Ram temple where a huge crowd is expected to celebrate the Ram Navami on Thursday, police officials said. Speaking at his residence in Nagpur on the violence, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, said, "The incident that happened in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is very unfortunate and efforts are on to maintain peace in the area. However, some people are trying to vitiate the atmosphere there by giving provocative statements." "I feel that political leaders should know ho

Maha govt to give LoI for Dharavi project on confirming financial capacity

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the Adani group which has won the tender for Dharavi redevelopment will get the Letter of Intent (LoI) only after it establishes that it has the financial capability to execute the project. He was replying after Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad, whose constituency includes Dharavi, raised concerns about the project in the wake of Hindenburg Research's allegations of stock manipulation against the Adani group. Gaikwad also asked if a fresh tender will be floated for the project. Fadnavis asserted that the tendering process was transparent. There was a global tender and three parties responded to it. The bids of two parties were proper and the highest bidder among them was awarded the contract, he said. "So it is incorrect to say that the process was flawed. The LoI has not been issued yet. This is because it is issued only after all the departments take that decision. "There is one decision (yet to be made) from the

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Losing political ground

After a brief interregnum in the Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis made a comeback last year, but things have gone from bad to worse since then

H3N2 virus: CM Shinde seeks public awareness, asks hospitals to be ready

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday chaired a review meeting of the Health department at Mumbai's Vidhan Bhavan to take stock of the state's preparedness

Amid protest, Shinde, Fadnavis to meet Maha farmers' representatives today

The farmers have been holding a long foot march from Nashik to Mumbai in a bid to put forward their demands before the government

Ajit Pawar targets government over ministers' absence; Fadnavis apologises

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar on Wednesday lashed out at the state government over the absence of ministers during the special sitting of the House due to which 7 of the 8 calling attention notices had to be postponed. This elicited an apology from Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A calling attention notice allows House members to bring the attention of a minister to a matter of urgent public importance. The issue cropped up after the Assembly, which is having its budget session, resumed its proceedings for the day at 11 am. As soon as Speaker Rahul Narvekar took up the Question Hour, an agitated Ajit Pawar said that in the special sitting today, 8 calling attention notices were listed but just one, related to tourism, could be taken up for discussion because only that minister concerned was present. The rest had to be postponed due to the absence of other ministers, he said. This is the height of shamelessness when ministers do not take legislati

Govt to launch Jalyukta Shivar 2.0 in 5,000 villages of Maharashtra: Dy CM

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that the State Government is putting efforts to promote ground water conservation.

Power tariff: Maha govt will ensure hike is not irrational, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the state government will ensure the proposed hike in electricity tariffs is not irrational. Fadnavis, who holds the power portfolio in the Eknath Shinde government, was speaking in the Legislative Council. "The tariff hike is proposed because of the rising cost of coal and other factors that are unavoidable. Our government will not impose any extra charge on consumers. If required, our government will intervene to ensure Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) does not increase power tariffs irrationally," he said. "There is going to be some hike in power rates because of factors such as import costs, transportation, wages etc. We will ensure the hike is linked with the increased input cost for power generation, he added. Sources said the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd has proposed 14 per cent hike in power tariff. Fadnavis said the MERC never accepts a hike proposal as it is

Shinde govt's 1st budget offers relief in professional tax, aid for farmers

The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government on Thursday presented its maiden Budget for 2023-24 in which it proposed Rs 6,000 assistance to farmers and Re 1 crop insurance scheme while also offering relief in professional tax to working women, 50 per cent discount on ticket fares to women in state-run buses and a new scheme for the girl child. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the state Finance Minister, presented a revenue deficit budget of Rs 16,222 crore in the Legislative Assembly with a total outlay of Rs 1,72,000 crore. Announcing a crop insurance scheme for farmers at Re 1, the deputy CM said the government will bear the financial burden of Rs 3,312 crore. "Under the earlier crop insurance scheme, the farmers had to pay two per cent of the crop insurance premium. Now, the farmers will not need to pay anything as the government will pay the premium amount," he said. Apart from this, the budget also proposed the 'Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Scheme', under whi